Many films strive for realism. Characters are filmed doing what the rest of us do like ordering pizza so there has to be someone to deliver it right? A pizza delivery job is a metaphor for the less attractive side of the world of work. In the history of modern school essays, no child has ever said that they want to be a pizza delivery person when they grow up. Plus, now this job has been replaced by drones in parts of the world, so there isn’t much in the way of job security. Still, some brave souls tackle this occupation so they are of course represented on film.
Here are five of the best pizza delivery guy characters on film.
Mookie (Do the Right Thing)
In this classic Spike Lee tale set in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. New York is under siege by a heat wave but the pizza oven is still blasting blazing hot Someone has to deliver those pies and the job falls on Mookie (played by Lee) to deliver. He brings over a pie to his girlfriend (played by Rosie Perez) and decides to get creative with ice cubes before he has to get back to work. Pretty soon he finds that tempers and racial tensions are heating up as well.
The “Little Nero’s” Guy (Home Alone)
In his quest to deliver within 30 minutes, this unnamed character mows down a lawn ornament before knocking on the door of a big, beautiful home. What he is met with are sound bites from a gangster movie delivering the iconic line “Keep the Change, You Filthy Animal!” which has gone down as a pop culture catchphrase. When the “gangster” appears to open fire on the guy, it’s all he can do to run for his life.
Randy Bodek (Loverboy)
One theme from the 80s movies is that even a guy with few prospects can score. Patrick Dempsey stars as a delivery guy who delivers a lot more to his wealthy female customers than pies and he ends up with some unexpected fringe benefits in this 1989 film.
Jeremy (Deadpool)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Z1wX4Yp-U
Being a pizza delivery guy can get you into trouble if you fall in with the wrong people. Take Jeremy in the movie “Deadpool” who was hoping for a big tip but ended up with a big problem. Any more information would lead to major spoilers but this clip gives a good idea of his predicament. “Keep Away from Megan!”
Nick (30 Minutes or Less)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh12cKUob_M
What’s better than a movie with a pizza delivery guy in it than a movie about pizza delivery? Nick played by Jesse Eisenberg in “30 Minutes or Less” gives us the classic stoner guy who has trouble with his boss and his family. Nick ends up in a very desperate situation where he has to use his wits to take fast action or die.
Honorable mention to the guy in Men at Work and the guy in There’s Something About Mary.
